Costume hat worn by Diana Ross as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Light green wool twill hat lined in teal synthetic twill with a brown fur band worn by Diana Ross as Billie Holiday in the Paramount Pictures produced 1972 film "Lady Sings the Blues." The hat is sewn so that it tilts at an angle down to the proper right. There are three red thread X's sewn in the lining to mark the center front. The teal lining and fur are hand sewn to form the hat, though the light green wool is machine pieced.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1972
• Designed by: Bob Mackie, American, born 1940
• Designed by: Ray Aghayan, Iranian American, born 1934
• Designed by: Norma Koch, American, 1898 - 1979
• Worn by: Diana Ross, American, born 1944
• Subject of: Billie Holiday, American, 1915 - 1959
• Type: hats
• Medium: wool twill, synthetic fiber, and fur
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 5 1/4 × 10 × 10 in. (13.3 × 25.4 × 25.4 cm)
• Place used: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Costume design
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Fashion
• Topic: Film
• Object number: 2012.64.4.3
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.